


Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

by pprfaith



Series: Road to Morning [6]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, old fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-29 08:59:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5122478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pprfaith/pseuds/pprfaith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ruby has never seen a slayer like her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

**Author's Note:**

> ElizabethLin requested Buffy, the Vampire Slayer/Supernatural, Ruby & Buffy, _Ruby had never seen a slayer like her._ \- Can be read as part of the _Star, Cross and Dirt_ verse.
> 
> 2009 repost.

+

Ruby might not be as old as some of her fellow monsters under the bed, but she’s been around the block a few times, Above as well as Below. And being what she is, it’s kinda impossible to avoid running into a slayer every now and then.

Usually, when one of those little warrior princesses enters the town she’s in, she just keeps her head down and holds still until the storm passes. Slayers never expect demons to just do nothing. As long as she doesn’t leave a trail of death and destruction in her wake, they don’t figure her out.

Because, you know, all demons are vile, slobbering, bloodthirsty monsters with no impulse control whatsoever. And people wonder why slayers change more often than the weather. They go after the obvious targets, completely missing the big wigs hiding in the shadows, knife in hand and then, whoops, another one down, can we have a new one to play with, please?

So yeah, Ruby’s seen slayers before. But she’s never seen a slayer like her. 

She’s blonde and tiny and obviously likes jeans and leather, not too different from the body Ruby’s riding at the moment. She is also lacking the more characteristic traits of a slayer. Like the monosyllabic spouting of Council propaganda. The fresh-faced look of youth. The watchdog following hot on her heels. 

If she had to guess, Ruby’d put down this one’s age around mid-twenties. That’s a decade older than most slayers. But there’s no mistaking the vibe coming off her, the _dangerdangerfamiliarkillyouRUN_ these little girls always have.

She’s sitting next to Dean at the bar, lounging, bottle of coke in hand, watching Sam hustle some poor schmuck out of his hard earned money. Dean whispers something in her ear and she laughs, head thrown back, free and unrestrained. Where’s the indoctrination? The brain washing? Where’s the blind, defenseless, objectified girl Ruby expected to find after hearing that the Winchesters have hooked up with a slayer?

Sam wins, his brother cheers and the slayer buys the next round of drinks before suddenly stiffening, squinting at something at the back of the bar, in the shadows. It takes Ruby a minute to make out the couple hiding back there. She’s human, he’s not. Some sort of demon, the kind with a physical body, wearing a human glamour. But he’s been here for longer than Ruby has, so why does the slayer only notice him now?

Oh, he’s leaving, the girl tucked tightly under his arm. For a moment Ruby stands there, head cocked to one side, wondering if the slayer was intentionally ignoring the demon until now. Until it grabbed itself a human. Then she shakes her head. What’s next? Flying monkeys?

The blonde says something to the boys and slips out of her seat, trailing around the edges of the crowd before following her prey outside. Ruby counts to fifteen and follows.

They are in a side alley, all three of them. Girl on the ground, sobbing, demon, its glamour shed, standing over her, arms at its sides, claws extended. The slayer is blocking its escape, knife in hand.

“I didn’t mean to,” the demon rasps, it’s grasp of English good, it’s intonation bad. “I’m sorry.”

Ruby expects the slayer to attack, but she just shakes her head. “Look, I know your kind. You’re mostly harmless. But you were going to eat that girl and I can’t let that slide.”

So she knew the demon was there and she was really, truly willing to let it go if it didn’t hurt anyone. Ruby’s worldview tilts a bit and somewhere, monkeys fly.

“But I didn’t hurt her,” the demon tries again.

“You would’ve,” the slayer responds. Sadly. Like she’s actually sorry. “You know what that means.”

The fight is short and brutal, the demon falling to her knife within seconds, stabbed through the heart and decapitated before the body hits the ground. Problem solved. 

The slayer picks up the girl, helps her stumble back into the bar, talking about calling someone and getting her home. Ruby remains behind with the cooling body of one of her distant kin and frowns. 

A slayer who sees shades of grey. Who is willing to let demons live as long as they do no harm. A slayer who seems free of the Council.

It should put her at ease, to know the other woman won’t kill her just on principle, but it doesn’t. because this one, this one _thinks_ and that makes her a whole new animal.

Oh no, Ruby’s definitely never met a slayer like her. 

+


End file.
